-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
Sent: Saturday March 22, 2:47 PM
To : [email protected]
Subject: Re: Private Pleasures
T:
Important things first. Great setting, great mood, great sex. Yeah, I got a bit warm lt;ggt;. Excellent Intro for Eros.
Sorry, friend, but I probably won't be there tonight. Besides, you don't need to see my face. You already know the best part of me.
Stay out of trouble.
R
That sounds okay. Just the right amount of nonchalance.
As to the issue of their meeting—she'd decide what to do about Thane when she had to, if she ever had to. It was going to be much more difficult to face Auden at the party, especially feeling the way she did at the moment. She'd forgotten how alive desire made her feel.
Chapter Nine
A t six-fifteen that evening, Auden's phone rang, She quickly zxturned off the shower, wrapped herself in a towel, and crossed her bedroom to the bedside phone. "Hello?"
"Aud?"
"Hey, Gayle. How are things going?"
"I'm just leaving the hospital. I got hung up in the ER seeing a consult, and my night-relief was late getting in. The snow has screwed up all the SEPTA schedules. Hopefully, the subway is running on time. I'll be home as soon as I can make it"
"That's okay. It doesn't matter if we're fashionably late."
"We should probably take a cab."
"I'll call now and tell them eight o'clock."
"Good. Sorry about this," Gayle repeated. "Oh, listen, could you take Shylock out for a walk?"
"Sure." Auden slipped the towel off and dried her hair as she spoke, "I'll go get him in a few minutes."
"Thanks, honey."
Gayle had just arrived home by the time Auden finished walking Shylock around the block, having made all the obligatory stops at his favorite spots. She dropped him off on the third floor and went downstairs to dress. Ready quickly and restless, she returned to Gayle's apartment and knocked on the door.
"I'm in the bedroom," Gayle called. "Come on back."
When Auden entered, her friend was standing by the closet, nude. Gayle was lean and trim, an avid runner, and it showed. Her small breasts were high and firm, with dark chocolate nipples against her slightly paler skin, The muscles in her abdomen and thighs rippled as if she leaned into the closet to take something down off a hanger. Auden had seen her friend naked before, but tonight she saw her in a new light.
When Gayle turned, she met Auden's eyes and grinned. "What?"
"You have a beautiful body," Auden said quietly.
"Thanks." Gayle cocked a hip and studied her friend. "What's going on?"
"I don't know." Auden's reply was soft withahint of uncharacteristic shyness. She sat on the edge of the bed, smoothing the lines of her black dress as she did so. "I've been having the strangest sensations for days."
"Oh yeah?" Gayle crossed to her dresser, sorted through her underwear, and selected black silk bikinis. She stepped into them, then a pair of tailored tuxedo pants, and pulled on a ruffled white shirt. "What do you mean?"
"Maybe it's just the fact that I' ve been doing nothing except reading lesbian fiction twenty-four hours a day, but I've, started paying...God, this is so crazy,.."
Gayle paused, her shirt halfway buttoned. "Are you telling me you're getting turned on, for real, by what you've been reading?"
Auden nodded. "What do you think that means?"
"What do you think it means?"
"Well, the obvious, I guess," Auden replied, blushing faintly as she remembered the dream about Gayle that hadn't been about Gayle. And the very real orgasm attached to it. "That maybe I'm gay?"
"That's a leap."
"Oh? Why?"
"Have you ever thought—before this, I mean—that you might be gay?" Gayle tucked in her shirt and reached for the jacket that went with the trousers. It was a tailored tux cut specifically for a woman, but with traditional lines. It fit her perfectly, accentuating her body in all the right places.
"Not consciously, no," Auden admitted. "I've always thought that I was just not particularly sexual. I enjoy the company of most of the men I date, but I never feel an overwhelming physical attraction for any of them."
"Did you ever think you were in love with any of them?"
"No."
Gayle shrugged. "Well then, maybe that's the answer. If you had been in love with them, then you probably would have been more physically attracted as well. Not being turned on by the guys you've dated doesn't mean you're gay."
"I know." Auden hesitated, then said quietly, "How about being turned on by a woman?"
Gayle stopped dead. "You're not talking about a fictional woman in a book, I take it?"
"I'm not sure, really. I might be confusing the two."
"Wait a minute." Gayle crossed the room and sat on the bed beside Auden. "I think you're starting to confuse me, honey. What are you trying to tell me?"
"It's just that I seem to be thinking about sex a lot. I thought at first that maybe it was just everything I was reading—the characters, the love, the...sex—I connected with so much of it so strongly." Auden lifted her hands. "You said it yourself the other night—when the story is done well, it makes you want to be the characters."
"Yeah," Gayle said doubtfully. "But reading Gone with the Wind never made me want to screw Rhett Butler." She laughed. "But it did make me want to do unmentionable things to my gym teacher."
"I'm having a similar reaction,"
Gayle raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Details, please."
"When I imagine...something physical, I seem to be thinking about a particular woman." Auden sighed. "My new boss."
"Whoa. This is news."
"I'm as surprised as you are."
"I don't know what to tell you. It could be just a crush." Gayle took Auden's hand and softly stroked her fingers. "Even straight girls get crushes on other women sometimes. It doesn't necessarily mean you're gay."
"I'm a little worried that I'm confusing what I'm reading with real life. I mean, after all, romances are fiction. That's the whole point." Auden studied Gayle's fingers moving on her skin. She found the touch comforting, but not erotic. That means something, right?
"Well," Gayle mused, "romances are supposed to be about idealized love. Once in a while, ideals do come true, you know."
"Yes, but..." Auden frowned. "I know I love you, and I've never... well..."
"Wanted to jump my bones?" Gayle offered helpfully.
"Uh, right."
Gayle laughed. "Maybe I'm just not your type."
"How would I know?"
"You'll know when someone makes you feel what you need to feel." Gayle gave Auden's shoulder a little nudge. "Like the things that turn you on in your homework."
"You of all people know that fiction is far from real life." Auden stood, shook her head, and smiled ruefully. "I think what I need is to concentrate a little more on real life and accept that fiction is just that. A fantasy." She held out her hand, pulled Gayle to her feet, and gestured with her chin toward the door. "Come on, finish getting dressed and let's go to the party." : :
"Yeah," Gayle said as she went to her dresser. "I want to get a look at the woman who's turned your head. You will see that I meet her, right?"
"Of course."
"Excellent." Gayle dabbed a touch of scent behind her ear. "I can't wait."
Auden didn't reply, but the idea of Gayle anywhere near Hays? bothered her unaccountably. Yet another new sensation she wasn't certain how to explain.
When Auden and Gayle stepped out onto the small marble stoop, both of them murmured in dismay at the rapid accumulation of snow on the streets and sidewalk.
"I feel like I should carry you to the cab," Gayle quipped. "You're; not going to make it in those heels."
."What we won't sacrifice for fashion," Auden said with a sigh as; she followed in the depressions ma
de by Gayle's dress shoes through the snow to the cab that idled, double-parked, in front of their building.
Settled inside, Gayle gave the driver their destination and asked, "How are the roads?"
"Terrible, and getting worse," came the gloomy reply. "Radio says this is going to keep up all night This city goes to hell with less snow than this."
"Thank God I'm not on call tomorrow." Gayle leaned back in the seat next to Auden. "It's going to be a bitch getting anywhere if this keeps up."
"I hope we'll be able to get home," Auden replied, glancing out the window. The city already seemed eerily deserted. There were no pedestrians and very few vehicles moving in the snow-covered streets.
"Well, at least we'll have four-star accommodations if we can't."
"There is that," Auden agreed.
The trip should have taken ten minutes even at rush hour, but it took nearly forty. The cabbie had to detour down several side streets to avoid cars stuck in the snow or to make room for emergency vehicles working to clear the drifts. When they reached the Four Seasons on Logan Square, it was almost nine p.m.
"Thanks," Auden said as she leaned forward to pay the driver, "I'd promise to come back for you ladies," the cute young woman in the Phillies baseball cap said, "but I'm not sure I'll be able to make it." She winked. "And I hate to disappoint a lady."
Auden searched for an appropriate comeback but couldn't think of one. She simply smiled and said, "I'm sure you never do."
Beside her, Gayle moaned, "I hope they have food left. I'm starving."
"I have a feeling there'll be plenty," Auden replied as she exited the fjcab and watched it move carefully off down the street. She turned and took Gayle's arm to steady herself as they crossed the slippery, snow covered sidewalk. "With this weather, I'd be surprised if everyone who psent an RSVP actually shows up."
They checked the bulletin board in the lobby, verified that the gathering was in the Independence Hall banquet room on the second floor, and rode the escalator upstairs. Upon entering the large room lit by a number of chandeliers in the high vaulted ceiling, Auden was Surprised to see the number of people present. Somehow, she had expected a small, intimate business gathering. Instead, there were close to seventy-five people present, a preponderance of women, most in stylish evening clothes. A jazz combo played in one corner.
She recognized almost no one and cast about, searching for a familiar face. She saw Abel Pritchard in conversation with one of the women she had interviewed for the position as her assistant, but she couldn't find Hays anywhere.
Next to her, Gayle stood gracefully, surveying the crowd. "Where's the woman in question?"
"I don't see her," Auden said worriedly. Maybe Hays is ill. She seemed herself this afternoon, but she did miss the last few days at the office.
"There are a lot of good-looking women here tonight," Gayle noted with approval. "This should be fun."
Auden laughed; Gayle's enthusiasm was always contagious. At that moment, someone called her name, and she and Gayle turned in the direction of the voice. An attractive, athletic-appearing blond with sparkling blue eyes approached, smiling brilliantly.
"Auden! I'm so glad you made it. I was starting to worry."
"Liz, hello," Auden said, pulling Gayle forward with a hand in hers. "Gayle, this is Liz Nixon. She ran WomenWords and hopefully will be our new head of marketing."
Liz cocked her head, grinning. "Is that a job offer?"
Auden lifted a shoulder. "Let's say it's not quite official but very close to a done deal."
"Just tell me when and where to sign," Liz replied. Then she turned her attention to Gayle, her eyes sweeping from Gayle's striking profile down her tight, compact body. Then she extended her hand. "It's a pleasure."
"Likewise," Gayle took the offered hand and squeezed firmly, noting that the other woman held the handshake just a moment longer than was probably necessary. Well, here's a lesbian for sure. And she is a knockout.
"Will you promise to forgive me if I talk business with Auden for just one minute?"
"No problem at all." Gayle leaned close to Auden and murmured, "I'm going to find a waiter. I'll bring you back the fruit of my hunt.
"Thanks." Auden squeezed her friend's forearm gently. "I'd realty appreciate it."
As Gayle moved away, Liz followed with her eyes for an instant, then turned back to Auden. "Girlfriend?"
"Friend," Auden said gently.
"Hmm," was all that Liz replied.
From across the room where she was leaning against a pillar and watching the activities, Hays saw Auden and a striking tuxedo-clad woman enter. Her heart leapt at the first sight of Auden, who looked beautiful in an off-the-shoulder black silk dress that subtly draped her figure, accentuating her graceful curves. Auden's companion was cover-model perfect, and she appeared to relate to Auden with the casual comfort of long acquaintance. They made a gorgeous couple. Hays could look nowhere else, noting the small intimate gestures between the two and the way that the woman in the tux leaned into Auden when she spoke close to her ear. Every touch was painful for Hays to observe.
Eventually, she forced herself to look elsewhere and noted the approach of another woman she had been observing from a distance for the last hour. Tall, close to her own height, but more heavily built and ruggedly good-looking, the brown-haired woman approached her with a directness that spoke of utter confidence. When she was within conversational distance, the newcomer extended her hand to Hays.
"Thane Cutlass, Ms, Palmer. One of your new acquisitions."
Hays knew who she was because Thane always put a recent picture on the back cover of her books. She also made frequent public appearances and was a very visible personality in the small lesbian romance-writers community. Hays took her hand. "Haydon Palmer, Thane. Most people call me Hays."
"Thanks. This is a nice shindig."
"I'm happy to see that the snow didn't keep you away."
Thane shrugged. "I live in Wilmington, practically your backyard. I came up last night, before the storm really got going."
"Palmer Publishing has booked rooms here. You'll want to stay tonight, our compliments."
"I won't pass up that offer," Thane said with a wide grin. "It will give me more of a chance to make some connections. I've already talked to several reviewers and scheduled a signing at Giovanni's Room."
"Glad to hear it. I had hoped that, in addition to all of us getting acquainted, this gathering would provide some networking opportunities for the authors."
"It's working." Thane nodded approvingly. "I haven't yet met Auden Frost, the new director, but I'm looking forward to it. Is she here?"
Hays indicated Auden across the room. "She's talking to Liz Nixon. You know Liz, of course."
"Oh yeah. Liz and I go back a ways," There was an unmistakable note of familiarity in her tone. "She's quite a writer in her own stead, you know, but she decided that she prefers business ventures to fictional adventures."
Hays laughed. Thane was every bit as vigorous and direct as Hays had imagined she would be from their e-mail association. In time, probably not long hence, she would need to tell her about Rune. But this was not the place or time.
"So," Thane said appreciatively, "Auden Frost is the blond?"
"Yes." Hays watched Thane study Auden, saw the way her eyes moved slowly over Auden's face, then drifted down her body. She saw the appreciation flare in Thane's dark brown eyes. Is everyone here tonight going to be attracted to Auden? Well, even if that's true, it has nothing to do with me.
Abruptly, Thane turned her attention back to Hays. "It was nice meeting you, Hays. I hope that we will be very happy with each other for a long time."
"I have a feeling that we will be."
Watching Thane walk away, Hays recalled the last vignette Thane had sent her—the heat and the lust in the passionate images. Hays wondered, too, if the sensual scenes Thane wrote were a product of her imagination, or her experience. She had a feeling that Thane Cutlass would
be an inventive and adventurous lover. That idea bothered her quite a bit as she followed Thane's unerring course directly toward Auden.
Chapter Ten
A uden's attention drifted from Liz, who was telling her about an upcoming writers' convention, as she sensed a feather-light touch on her skin. There was no one nearby, but her gaze was drawn across the room to where Hays leaned with a shoulder against an enormous marble pillar—in the crowd, but not part of it. Even from a distance, she was singularly striking. Her black hair was untamed and her pale complexion as flawless and still as the stone at her back. Her dark suit cast her figure in stark relief against the alabaster column. Auden's lips parted in a soundless murmur as their eyes met. A smile twitched at the corner of Hays's mouth and was just as quickly gone. Auden took one step forward, and then, as so often happens in dreams, Hays had vanished.
"Auden?"
Liz's voice beckoned, and Auden, struggling with the lingering sense of unreality, brought her mind back to the blond at her side. "I'm sorry? Where did you say the convention would be held?"
"The next big one's in Manhattan in a few weeks. All the major publishers and most of the popular authors will be in attendance. I think it's essential that Destiny have a presence there."
"I agree. We'll need to start putting something together next week." Auden's eyes flickered back to the spot were Hays had stood. Where is she? Could I have just imagined her there?
"Here you go," Gayle said as she rejoined them, handing Auden a champagne flute filled with the golden wine along with a small plate of assorted bite-sized delicacies.
"Thanks," Auden replied, smiling at Gayle. She sipped the champagne and held the plate out in Liz's direction. "Help yourself."
"I've had my fill already. Thanks." Liz turned her attention to Gayle, "Are you a fellow writer?"
"No. Just a rabid fan."
"Ah, even better,"
"I thought WomenWords had some of the best authors around," Gayle remarked. "I'd kill for a few autographs."
"Oh, we can't have you committing a felony." Liz laughed. "I'll see if I can help you avoid arrest."
Gayle grinned. "Thanks. I'd appreciate that."
"Anyone in particular you'd like me to rustle up for you?"
Radclyffe - Love's Masquerade Page 9
